I Don’t Know What to Say, So Here Goes

Yes, I know. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to write a blog. So many things needed my attention simultaneously: being a high school teacher, being an adjunct professor, ministry duties, tutees, crochet clients, etc. As we speak, I’m thinking of all the things I have to do. Nevertheless, I am going to make time to do something that I want to do, which is WRITE THIS BLOG ENTRY.

Taking time out to re-explain what has happened in my life in 2022 is mentally exhausting. At the same time, I don’t know what to talk about after being dormant for 6 months. I’m just going to start typing and see where it goes.

Adjusting to Being in my 30s

I am reminded that a new decade means a new set of challenges for you to face. The difference between the way I tackled my challenges in my 20s and now is that I have the knowledge, the stamina, and the brain capacity to handle those challenges. How do I handle those challenges? Well, the answer is simple: I give it to God. Yes, this is easier said than done most days, but I do my best to remind myself of this simple concept. Even when I don’t know what to do, I always know I can rely on God to help me through it and that I know that it’ll be okay. I just got to keep telling myself that.

I think that when it comes to being in your thirties, I feel like you start to know more and learn more about your body than you did in your twenties, you know? You know your body well enough to know when something’s wrong and that you know what to do when something’s wrong. Stress can overtake the body and it can affect your mind, give you a headache, lowers your energy, etc. Every piece of your body reacts to stress, causing it not to function in a way that it would normally function. (By the way, I hope that no one is thinking too much about this lol. I’m okay! That’s just something that I have noticed, especially when it comes to stress and what my body can handle.)

In this season of my life, I am going through physical changes that I mentally was not prepared for: weight gain, tiredness, spontaneous body aches, my irregular menstrual cycle being worse, etc. Sometimes I may appear that I take it well if you know me personally or may follow me on my social media platforms. But deep down, I struggle with it most days. Sometimes I cry and get frustrated about it, even though it’s just a part of life. Nevertheless, I am learning to get used to it and I can always change something if I really don’t like it, which is what I’ve been doing.

My first step was cutting down on the dairy. Although cutting down on dairy has many benefits, I know that it’s helped my sinuses. It’s a work in progress and I’m sure I’ll see even better benefits in the future. This has also helped me find a new non-dairy milk that I love, oat milk!

Multitasking: I used to really be good at it. Now? I’m just happy to be able to get something done! I’m learning that doing many different things at one time only gets a small portion of my energy. For example, the 7 different things I’m doing now are each getting 1/7 of my energy and time. That’s only about 14.3% of my time and energy. I’ve lived the life of being a multitasker and I’m all burned out. I may get back to that space in the future, but I’m also okay with this at the moment. It takes the pressure off of getting things done quickly unless it’s necessary.

I’m only a youngin in my 30s, so that’s what I’ve noticed so far.

Summer 2022 is Here and I’m Tryna Have a Warm Girl Summer on a Budget!

Of all the seasons that occur annually, my 2nd favorite season is summer. I look forward to all of the good things that summer has to offer every year. The heat, the nature, the outdoor concerts, traveling, summer cocktails, friend-family cookouts, etc. Over the years, the summertime meant more as an educator. It’s a time for me to recover from the newly-passed school year. To keep it brief, although it had some amazingly good moments and a lot of laughs, this past school year was mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally dark for me. Trying to find the bright side daily was a serious task, succeeded on some days and failed on others. I didn’t want to talk to my friends a lot because everything came out negatively. I could only confide in my coworkers and my therapist. Now that it’s over, I’m ready to recover this summer.

Traveling has always been my favorite thing, so I went to one of my best friend Michelle’s apartments in Columbus for the weekend. Although it’s not too far from me, I treated it like it was a therapeutic getaway. It didn’t take long for me to get there, so we first went to the park and practiced our photography skills. We stayed there for hours taking pictures of the bright scenery, and tons of pictures of the ducks lol. Later, we went to a place called Forno Kitchen + Bar. It had great scenery for a semi-upscale evening, great food, and cocktails. It’s also the perfect place for people watching and sharing a pizza between the two people, which is what we did. Our next stop was next door to the Lincoln Social Rooftop, which is my 3rd time going. It’s a great place for cocktails and to feel like I got money lol. It does have food but I haven’t tried their food. They have this drink called the Pineapple Smash and it’s the BOMB. The only downside is that it’s a place where a lot of people go on the weekends. So, it’s always packed out of the times I’ve been. I’m curious to see what the scene looks like on weekdays. We only stayed for one drink and went back to her apartment for the evening.

The next day, she invited me to go to her church and it was great. For lunch, she took me to Emmett’s Cafe, which was originally an elementary school that was recycled into a restaurant and a pottery shop. I think it’s the perfect place to go when you need inspiration, need to work, etc. They also have handmade pottery and apparel for sale. While at lunch, she mentioned that her coworker invited her to an art walk, called Olde Towne East Art Walk 2022, so I tagged along. Apparently, it’s an indoor and outdoor event where artists and entrepreneurs get to showcase their art for a chance to sell them. Although a bit windy at first, it was the perfect weather to be outside and walk around. I’m learning that Columbus has a lot of artistic people and the art around the city is amazing, from the landscape to the graffiti, to the paintings on the side of buildings. I truly enjoyed myself. We left the walk and headed back to her side of town, but I had to go get some macarons from Macaron Bar and get her some ice cream from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Before I headed home, we chilled for a minute and got dinner from Northstar Cafe.

Overall, I had an amazing weekend.

My Expectation for the Summer

Besides the life of adulting that I don’t really wanna do but know that I need to do, there are a few things that I really wanna do this summer. SLEEP is at the top of the list, along with reading a physical book instead of listening to an Audible. I know that I have my book club’s first summer reading, but I want to test myself by reading a physical copy of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games series is one of my favorites, so I have high expectations for this book.

I miss taking the time out to write something, whether creative or not. I want to blog more, so I’ll be sure to make time to do this.

As gas prices and plane tickets are on the rise, I don’t plan on going on too many trips this summer. I want to save more money this summer and find many things to do in the city. I want to get back to working out and return to Zumba on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm. I want to come up with a summer morning routine that I can stick to.

I want to practice my new hobby: photography! I’ve always wanted to try it since I’ve been paying attention to my friend Chanda (A Flash Forever Photography), and my sister Breezy (Breezy Vizualz, LLC), and they do amazing work. My sister Breezy, along with other sister friends of mine, have been telling me to get a camera. So, I took the plunge back in April to purchase a camera. I absolutely love it so far! I’m not confident enough to show my skills to the world, only to a few close family and friends. However, here’s a picture of me tryna get THE shot lol. Just know that I’m really good if I do say so myself.

Overall, I want a GREAT summer where I can make good memories.